Hillsborough’s County Commission is once again tipping to a Democrat majority, with all precincts reporting unofficial results Tuesday.
But the board is likely heading for a restructuring under a charter amendment that was passing by 51.7% of the vote.
The commission’s two Democratic incumbents, Harry Cohen and Gwen Myers, picked up decisive wins. The commission’s lone Republican up for reelection, Commissioner Joshua Wostal, lost by a sizeable margin.
The Democrat running for an open countywide seat also won handily.
In the District 5 countywide race, Democratic urologist Neil Manimala won against Republican Hillsborough school board member Stacy Hahn with about 54.8% of votes with all precincts reporting. Hahn, a Republican, had beaten incumbent Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda in the August primary.
Manimala, 36, has said he’s running to fix broken politics and improve transportation. Hahn, 59, said she was running to keep taxes low and guide growth while “protecting our quality of life.”
In the District 7 countywide race, Commissioner Joshua Wostal, a 42-year-old Republican, trailed public affairs executive Aileen Rodriguez by more than 10 points. Rodriguez, a Democrat and former GOP U.S. Senate staffer, said she ran partially because Wostal proposed eliminating the county’s local healthcare plan for poor residents.
She won with 56.2% of the vote, unofficial counts showed. She celebrated her win in a Facebook post Tuesday night.
In the District 1 race, Cohen defeated former state Rep. Jackie Toledo, a Republican, with about 55.6% of the vote. The district includes downtown, South Tampa, West Tampa and reaches west toward Town ‘N Country.
Cohen, 56, said he’s been focused on public safety and finishing projects from his time on the commission, including around the proposed Tampa Bay Rays stadium, which he supports.
Commissioner Gwen Myers easily dispatched Republican opponent, Luiz Garcia, with about 72.4% in the District 3 race. Myers, 72, has been on the commission since 2020 and previously worked for the county. District 3 covers East Tampa, Ybor City and Progress Village.
The Hillsborough County Commission has bounced back and forth between Republican and Democratic majorities in recent decades.
Those elected will join a commission that decides the future for the proposed Rays stadium. New commissioners could make a large difference in how the remaining portions of the deal shake out.
They’ll also face a tough budget year ahead after Amendment 3, which increases an exemption for residents who live in the homes they own, passed. That would cut taxes for Floridians who live in the homes they own by increasing a homestead exemption.
Local government budgets are mostly made up of revenue from property taxes, and Hillsborough has already forecast steep losses.
Hillsborough voters also leaned toward restructuring their county government by expanding for the first time in 40 years.
The referendum needed a simple majority of support to pass. It would add two seats to the seven-member commission.
The referendum would require each commissioner be elected from new districts representing geographic portions of the county. That means there would be no countywide representatives, and voters would each select one commissioner instead of a majority of those on the board.
The County Commission makes decisions about zoning issues, how much residents pay in taxes and how to spend that money. Commissioners will oversee redrawing district lines.
